In fencing competitions, the decision of which fencer is to be assigned a point at the end of an action is taken by a referee who normally stands aside, and at one-half length from the fencing platform. Behind the referee a video camera is normally positioned for filming the pair of fencers moving on the field of play. The video camera lens is arranged at a height greater than that of the referee for preventing the latter from obstructing the view of the fencers. The video images recorded by the video camera can help the referee in making a decision on the point to be assigned at the end of a very rapid exchange of strikes between the fencers. To this end, the video camera framing must remain constantly focused and narrowed upon the pair of fencers as they move along the competition platform. For this reason, the video camera is mounted on a mobile support which allows to adjust the orientation of the video camera relative to the competition platform while a person moves the support to keep the framing centered on the pair of fencers as they move along the competition platform. Therefore, if an exchange of strikes proves to have been too quick even for the referee, then the latter may decide who receives the point only after having looked at the recorded video images in slow motion.
As can be understood, the filming method described above is strongly subject to the inattentiveness of the person moving the video camera. In other words, it is not uncommon for the person operating the video camera to be unable to maintain an accurate framing thus missing out one of the fencers, when, during an exchange of strikes, they quickly reach one end of the platform. In these cases, the recorded video images cannot be of any help to the referee.